1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to digital microscopy and more specifically relates to the processing and analysis of digital slides.
2. Related Art
In the growing field of digital pathology, computer assisted image analysis is becoming increasingly important to assist pathologists with image analysis. One problem with conventional digital pathology image analysis systems is that the image data processed by a set of image processing instructions typically includes a significant amount of undesirable image data (i.e., low signal (desired image data) to noise (undesired image data) ratio). This undesirable image data is necessarily processed by the conventional digital pathology image analysis systems because those systems process all image data received for analysis. The image data received for analysis includes the undesirable image data because an operator is unable to efficiently exclude undesirable image data prior to image analysis by the conventional digital pathology image analysis systems. Some attempts to solve the low signal to noise ratio problem have resulted in extremely complicated digital pathology image processing algorithms that are also extremely limited in their application due the inclusion of image processing instructions with the analysis instructions. Therefore, there is a need in the industry for an improved digital pathology image analysis system that solves the problems of the conventional systems and addresses the inadequacies of previously attempted solutions.